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So, did you get any snow?

I was dubious Friday morning when the word was going around that we were to be struck with the cold white hammer of wintry weather. That’s because, at about 8AM, it looked like this.

Grey and overcast, sure. But that’s how we got the flooding earlier in the week, the lingering results of which can be seen in the murky dip in the back yard. Nonetheless, the manchild — who agreed to assist me with blogging since school was closed — and I headed out to the market to stave off the risk of him being snowed in with parents who were out of beer.

The wind was getting whippy and a little precipitation was beginning. Edward pointed out I needed my scarf. I retrieved it, and we headed out. Really, although it was grey and chilly, everything was still quite ordinary.

But you can see they were being generous with the salt in our township, even though other nearby towns were reporting that they had run out of salt for the roads.

Really, just grey.

We made it to the store just fine. The parking lot was fairly full, but tidy enough. Actual snow was just beginning to fall.

No doubt about it: Mom was going to need a big coffee. One is almost always acquired when passing this space, ever since they turned the supermarket into a Kroger Marketplace, an absolutely massive store that features… everything.

Is that a tight-lipped smile? Will a giant mocha improve things? Here’s hoping — it’s bound to be necessary to fight the throngs.

You can really see the enthusiasm pouring out of both of us.

Yes. Tortellini. And more coffee needed.

This is perhaps Edward’s favourite part of the store — the giant tape dispenser and the post-its that say “Pick up milk,” right next to the aisle endcap full of “Spirit Wear,” also known as t-shirts and jackets and such like emblazoned with LEBANON WARRIORS.

Most of the other people there were clearly moms who’d expected to be at work, but instead, were taking all the kids to the market, in case the milk ran out. You have to buy milk, bread, and toilet paper, apparently. Chad’s parents had explained this to me — when they moved here after living in colder, snowier climes, they discovered that indeed, if a big snow was predicted, the markets would in fact run out of those things.

Really.

At the Kroger, you can get toys. And furniture, housewares, bedding, books, and sushi, but hey — Legos and Star Wars crap, mom!

And beer. Let us not forget the beer. That’s what sent us out — beer, to keep the parents in line. Elizabeth, you asked about the kegerator. It’s just fine; however, the keg that goes in it… is empty. And it’s normally a weekend thing to pick up more, when we run out through the week. This is the “out of beer” situation: an empty keg.

Okay, we’re almost ready. The cart is full of stuff for chili, tacos, and pasta; we’ve replenished the canned soup; there is Boddingtons, hurrah! Just a few more important staples to check on — oh, and do you see the salt (for melting snow on your walkway) and snowshovels? You can get everything at the Kroger Marketplace.

This is an important source of caffeine for fathers.

What should be here is not here. It has not been here for some time, like since January. However, I remain heartened by the fact that the tag listing its price still has not been removed. Surely if the product were not to return, the tag would also go away.

My son knows as much about these things as I do about yarn, I suspect. Denny’s kid can probably fill us in on the details as well. As a mom, my knowledge of Lego type objects is super-outdated, and I can really only say “bad weather cabin fever rainy day distraction type thingy.”

And while you’re browsing magazine covers while the guy in front of you buys a snow shovel, you can rest easy knowing that your kid won’t be asking about anything untoward from the cover of Cosmo.

We’re out safe, and Trucky is waiting, lightly dusted with snow.

Mom is so amused.

Yes. Ice. Thank you, Trucky. I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

Heading down the main drag where the car dealerships are — there’s one of these in every town above a certain size — we can see snow starting to stick.

Roads are fine, though. It’s been about 45 minutes since we left the house.

And here, on the main fast-food-restaurant drag, we realized that visibility was definitely worsening.

Things were still okay down our country road…

…but it’s good to be home.

One of the things Chad pointed out to me about a truly modern — as in not in a cabin in rural New Hampshire — lifestyle in a part of the world which has winter (albeit typically mild winter) is that you can have an attached garage. You pull your vehicle right into the garage, and you’re already essentially indoors. Really. Basically no scraping ice and shoveling out the car. We live like kings.

Gentle reader from a truly snowy area, please understand that even what you see here could potentially be enough to cause snow days. This is gritty, icy, slushy snow in pellets and flakes, and not everyone knows how to deal with it.

“If that keeps up all day,” we all agreed, “We might really get that foot of snow.”

Plus it’s the blowy kind.

Ahhhh, a snow day.

By lunchtime, it was still coming down, still blowing hard, and making interesting drifts.

And this is noon, people, not dusk. Look, the driveway’s hiding.

By dusk, we were well-blanketed, and it was still coming down, harder than ever, even. “They’re saying till tomorrow night,” Chad said when we went to bed. I turned off the alarm.

I was awakened by a very enthusiastic 10-year-old. “MOM!” he stage-whispered, “Come right now, into my room, and you can see, you can really see, how much snow has fallen. And it’s still snowing! And it’s not just a trick! Come see come see come see come see!”

Yes. Before the coffee, little man. I’m on my way.

Why, that’s enough snow to make an undercaffeinated mom say, “It’s even taller than the mess in your room!”

The dad, in his wisdom, proposed an outing to see the snow.

This bare spot was really interesting — it’s definitely the wind-whipped part of the lot, but this corner of house was quite un-snowy. Which is good, because it’s where we get Trucky out of the garage.

The driveway, though, was buried under almost a foot.

Our road had, however, been plowed.

Even so, drifting snow had accumulated in this hollow.

The main road into town was pretty clear.

This shortcut, not so much. Incidentally, the poor people with the house at left in this photo — their fence is constantly being hit by cars. Constantly. All year round, once a month, someone’s tagged it. It’s amazing. I would have been tempted to replace the fence with Jersey barrier by now.

Here’s where you’d get off the highway. In other words, we’re on the highway.

In case you were ever wondering why they label the exits with arrows and whatnot.

Chad proposed breakfast.

Amazingly enough, the Bob Evans was open. The service manager and one waitress were making it happen. We were very grateful.

And here’s the fast food drag again, not 24 hours later — complete with a car spinning its wheels attempting to get across the road.

So quiet.

Had this been me, I would not have been being quiet. I would have been cursing up a storm.

Here’s that main drag with the car dealerships, again.

and the Kroger parking lot.

This guy and his buddy were out plowing the parking lot; from the looks of things, by the time they finished it, it was time to start over again at the other side.

So what had they run out of, for real? Well, the breakfast sausage was hit hard…

And the frozen pizza.

Plus pre-grated cheese.

Milk? Restocked.

ARGH!

Good thing we got soda, though…

And it’s a good thing we didn’t need a snow shovel, because at this point, we’d have had to buy a snowblower at the checkout aisle.

This had been plowed clean when we went in.

Here’s what it looked like on the way home:

Can’t tell what’s going on? Let’s try this…

That’s the plow.

This had been freshly plowed when we left the house also — maybe 90 minutes prior?

Our country road, too, had been plowed again since we left… and was now worse than when we left.

Yay, home! I didn’t go out again, but…

…here’s my valiant assistant, in the back yard just before lunchtime. That’s right — you can’t see the fence.

It kept snowing till about 8PM — some 36 hours of nonstop heavy and blowing snow, and it was a bit over a foot (aka 30 cm). Most snow since 1978, apparently.

19 thoughts on “So, did you get any snow?”

Have I ever commented here before? I do not know — we’ve chatted a bit on spinning boards. Anyway, I live in a relatively snowy climate, so I don’t know why your photo essay enchants me so much, but it really does. Did your son take most of the those photos? I grew up in TX, and the excitement of ANY white stuff at all was just unbearable. Maybe it’s nostalgia for me that I so enjoyed your family’s excitement. Plus, a snow day just seems like a good time to come rolling out of the woodwork and say hi.

The snow here has been pretty insane as well. I discovered today that it’s perfectly safe to take the bus right now, and to walk around in the downtown core, but it’s a really bad idea to try and get *to* the bus.

Every time you mention Trucky I get confused because I don’t think Truck would respond well to the appelation,plus also Finland, and then I realize you actually mean you have a truck.

I remember it well, the delight of a 12 year old at not having to go to school for a solid week. Of course remind me to tell the story of a certain computer programmer I know (my mother) who got called into work and was stuck downtown for two days.

Yes, there is a lower midwest mindset of making sure you have plenty of supplies that seems to affect some in Chicago, but not so much in Wisconsin.

Toilet paper, oh my…yes. I can’t comprehend what the issue with hoarding toilet paper before a storm. Unlike bread and milk it is not perishable

You see, Abby, when Ellen offers to send you “a little snow” you should put limits on how much she can send. 🙂 I am surprised that she didn’t pipe in with how happy she was that she only got a light dusting of snow herself, but then again, she was being reminiscent of 1978…

We didn’t have a snow day on Friday coz nothing was supposed to start until mid afternoon (and coz where I live it really takes a lot to declare a snow day), but from about 3pm on Friday to sometime in the wee hours on Sunday morning, snow snow snow snow snow. So much that my kid and I went cross country skiing in the school yard behind our house after I finished work today. Which was fun I admit, but I’m done with the snow now.

Great post! I love the pics. You live in a great place with gorgeous property. I love it! You gotta cute kid too, just don’t tell him I said that – you know how kids that age get. (Unless you want him to squirm of course, then tell away!) 🙂

I want to know why metro DC didn’t get any snow? The midwest was buried, Atlanta had a few hours of white stuff, but all DC got was wind and torential rain. But when it does snow in Northern VA, the milk, bread and TP disappear from the store shelves. Being from Wisconsin by way of Boston, I don’t get it. But I sure do love watching the locals try to drive when it does snow.

Apparently they are the latest kind if “Bionical”. The very reason we were shoes not slippers in my house. They hurt like anything to step on. Yeah I should get them to pick their toys up.That would mean I would have to pick mine up too. Just wear shoes.

Lurking your blog for months, especially since I discovered from Heather Ordover that you were the SOAR wunderkind and living just down the pike from me(I’m outside Wilmington).

We plugged in all our rechargeable gadgets, hit the Kroger Marketplace in Blanchester for our comfort food (yes, it’s awesome) and supplies. Luckily, we never lost power or satellite signal, so I could spin and watch Beowolf.

We got roughly the same amount of accumulation as Lebanon, but that sideways snow blew in through a tiny sideways gap in the roof, and I ended up with a water leak in my new house:(

I lived in Indiana (in Richmond–a mile or two from the Ohio border) during the blizzard of ’78. IT was said to be the worst in eighty years. Lo siento, so sorry, if it was that bad! Ah, the memories the photos evoke–wearing so many layers that it was possible to travel by standing in the middle of the street with arms out, allowing the wind to ‘sail’ us down the street…the sheet of ice on the ceiling above my bed in my attic room…I’m living in Cali now (Northern, not SoCal), so I don’t have to deal with it any more.

Oh, yeah, and Abby? I often spell it ‘colour,’ too (now that I’m teaching I have to consciously spell it the other way), and I’m not Canadian, either. Of course, I also spell the colour ‘grey’… (;-)

I remember that house in New Hampshire… I also remember that photo of you when you were 8. Do you remember me? I’m so sorry to read of your father’s passing on your 2005 website. Ed had the heart of a bear, and I’m sure he fought like one, too. You had a photograph of me that Satya made – do you remember? Do you still have it? What of your guitar, and your Harmony with Truth? Your son is beautiful, and well-named, I see. All my best to you, Abby. I know you can look up my e-mail – please feel free to contact me if you like.